Barriers
by Nightwriter222
Summary: Robin gets thrown through a wall and, much to Superboy's confusion, is injured. The team comes to terms with the situation of their youngest member, though it is unfortunate they had to burn a chair to do it.
1. Chapter 1

"Get... d-down..." Robin mumbled. His back pressed painfully into the brick.

_C'mon, Grayson, it's just a wall. __Get up. _But somehow, he couldn't get up. It didn't help that his head was spinning and his ribs felt both compressed and stretched at the same time and his spine felt like someone had taken a hammer to it and-

_"_Ro... k...?" Hm. Wally's voice from somewhere.

_He's probably asking if I'm alright. I should say something, _"M'fine" he managed to croak. He could barely see the outline of his canary-yellow friend. That meant he was hurt. Badly.

Oops.

* * *

><p><span>Earlier:<span>

It was a common street gang. That's all. You don't see many around Happy Harbour, but there are some. About twelve, robbing a technology store. The team ran into them while walking Wolf (which, when it was hotdog season for street vendors, required everyone). It wasn't even a mission, just a fun outing.

They had already taken out most of the goons and were just cleaning out the rest when the unexpected happened. One of the thugs grabbed a thick disk, about the diameter of a dinner plate, from the ruins of the store. Robin recognized it immediately. A shockwave generator. A _very large_ shockwave generator. Before he had a chance to say anything (get down, for instance), Mr. Brainless pressed the button on the top.

Nobody anywhere near the now thoroughly decimated tech shop did not get blasted away from the device with the resulting shockwave, including the dunce that activated it. Since the team was about five feet from it, they got hit _hard_. Hard enough to be thrown into the brick alley wall behind them (except Wolf, being a wolf he was below the blast radius and short enough to avoid it). Superboy was the first to get up, being made of steel and all. His section of wall, on the other hand, had been utterly destroyed. He roared in annoyance at nobody, since all the thieves had been knocked out by the shockwave, which made him all the more annoyed. Aqualad was next, his thick Atlantean skin taking only a bruise and a few scratches. The wall had taken much more damage, though hadn't been destroyed quite yet. He brushed himself off and tied up the dazed goons. A similarly dazed, tired and bruised M'gann got up third, with the help of Superboy. She'd used telekinesis and flight to cushion her fall, meaning her wall emerged relatively unscathed. Wally, with his super healing factor, ate a granola bar and got up fourth. Like M'gann, he'd used super speed to run against the wave, slightly lessening the impact. Like him, his wall was shaky and a bit crumbly but still standing tall. He immediately turned to help Artemis, who was injured. Her quiver had hit the wall first, protecting her from the worst of it, but she'd still taken a few harsh cuts with her bruised ribs and ego. She'd also been farther away from the initial blast, which helped her wall (which had only sustained a few cracks) more than it had helped her.

Leaving only one person still to get up.

Robin slid to the bottom of his completely unscathed wall. While Artemis' quiver had somewhat shielded her, Robin's fluid cape had done no such thing. Additionally, he'd been closer to the blast and his light weight increased the speed of his impact. He had sustained two broken ribs along with three bruised ones, gotten his leg and arm torn by the debris of Superboy's crash and a serious concussion. Slowly, the Boy Wonder gave a valiant effort to get up and, after failing miserably, realized he'd forgotten something.

_Hey, better late than never, _"Get... d-down..." he mumbled.

* * *

><p><span>Present:<span>

"Is everyone alright?" Aqualad asked, tying up his last criminal. He turned, glad to see Wally helping Artemis up before his gaze shifted past Superboy's bulk to the curled form of Robin.

Wally followed his gaze, then flashed to his friend's side, "Robin's hurt!"

"Thank you, Kid Idiot, I _never _would've noticed!" Artemis snarked, masking the concern in her voice. The Kid Idiot in question was too busy hovering over his best friend to notice.

"Rob, you ok?"

"M'fine..." Robin murmered. The whites of his mask were thinning, indicating closed eyes behind the lenses.

Superboy frowned, "I don't understand, what happened? None of the thugs were near him."

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Wally waved a three-fingered hand in front of Robin's, making Artemis facepalm in the background.

"Robin wasn't hurt by thugs, Superboy. His injuries are due to a combination of debris from the wall and hitting the solid brick," Aqualad said, "Move aside please," he nudged Kid Flash away and gently scooped his fallen teammate into his arms. Robin groaned before mumbling again, something about embarrassment.

"I am sorry, my friend, but we currently have no other option. I assure you, our respect for you will not change. M'gann, please open the bioship- ah."

For the moment, they had all forgotten that they hadn't brought a method of transportation. Aqualad turned around to find Kid Flash waiting patiently, arms out.

"I can run him back to the mountain faster than any of you," he said. The team leader nodded and gently passed Robin off. As soon as he was stable, Wally sped off.

* * *

><p>By the time the rest of the team made it to the mountain, Robin was already in the med bay. Unfortunately, that also meant a very angry Batman was also in the med bay.<p>

"I expect a debrief from all of you when I get back. Until then, I expect there to be _no disturbances _that have _any chance _of harming Robin." he stepped aside, allowing them into the room.

As hard as it is to believe, the good part of the scenario was Robin laying on the hospital bed, unconscious. The bad part was that Kid Flash was nowhere near unconscious. He had vibrated in the chair so fast the screws were coming out and half the armrest had caught fire, which he was patting out with superspeed. The fire went out, but the excess friction started two new fires, which he tried to pat out... yeah, you get the point.

Kaldur quickly levitated a huge bubble of water from the sink, dousing the fire, Wally _and_ half the hospital bed.

The soaked speedster coughed a bit before smiling gratefully at the Atlantean, "Thanks, I'm sorry about the chair... it's just that I was staying still while Batman was here and then heleftandIjustcouldn'tsitstillcauseRob'shurtand-"

"Wally! Calm down!" M'gann cried, using her telekinesis to hold him steady. He had started vibrating again.

"Ah! S-sorry, I just... he's so... so..."

They all gazed at the team's youngest.

"... small..." Wally finished. The team nodded absently, still staring at Robin. Wally was right, he did look small. It would've been cute if they hadn't been suddenly struck with how very _vulnerable_ he was.

"It is difficult to remember he is only thirteen," Kaldur said, gently brushing some ashes off the bedsheets.

"He- he's so weak," the rest of the group turned to Superboy sharply, who had the grace to shrink a little before plowing through. "I mean, he can't handle being thrown into a wall like the rest of us can. We all experienced the same thing... so why is he in a hospital bed while we aren't?" He turned to Kaldur, reasonably expecting the most accurate explanation to come from the team leader.

"In some ways you are correct, Superboy. Robin is the smallest and physically weakest, mostly because of his young age and acrobatic build. However, that does not mean he is a weak person. We all know him to be an intelligent, energetic boy with a strong personality who can fight very well. Has he not often beaten us in combat? He does not require our protection, even without the superpowers we rely on."

Artemis spoke up for the first time, "We still feel like he does, though," she turned to Superboy, "you didn't feel like this whenever I was injured, right? Yeah, didn't think so. It's like a pack of wolves, they always look out for their weakest member, right? It's subconscious, an important survival instinct that's in all of us too. However much he doesn't want to admit it and however well he can fight, he can't take the damage. He knows that, we know that, even our enemies know that. It kinda is our job to protect him."

Silence enveloped them for a few moments more as they stared at the boy in the bed. He was looking more and more like a boy now, instead of the formidable fighting teen they knew he was.

Of course, Wally was the one to break the tranquility, "You guys know if he hears us talking like this he's gonna kill us."

Artemis snorted, "Oh yeah, he'll spend all week proving he's not the weakest. He'll succeed, too."

"He's the only one succeeding right now," a dark voice said from the hallway. The team spun around only to receive a full on bat glare. "You have until we reach the hangar to think of a good reason why Robin's bed is singed, covered in ashes and soaking. Apparently, the words 'no disturbances that can harm Robin' mean nothing to you." Batman turned and stalked away, leaving five cringing teens in his wake.

"You had one job, Baywatch," Artemis hissed to Wally as they walked, "'Don't disturb Robin', how hard is that?"

"It's not my fault that the chair caught on fire! The ashes on the bed was all your fault for opening the door and blowing the-"

**Smack**

"Hey! It's _not_ my-"

**Glare**

"Ahh, right. Hey Superboy, mind if I chill beside you while we walk?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hi! Thanks for reading Barriers (title, by the way, stands for both the brick barrier the team smashed into <em>and<em> all the barriers Robin faces as a superhero). How did I do? **

**If you'd like, I could turn it into a two shot with Robin's recovery, but until then it will stay a one-shot. Reviews would be very nice, as this is essentially my first fic (the first I purposefully made horrible because first fics are often not as good as the new ones since the writers get better over time. Please don't blame me when I say I often don't read the first fic on the list unless I really like the author. I didn't want to make a really good story and then watch as it becomes the black sheep of the family. Also, I wanted to test formatting, style, characters, etc.) Anyways, sorry about the rant. I hope you enjoyed the story! **

**Thank you.**

**-Nightwriter222**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Due to flatteringly popular demand, Barriers is now a two shot. Regards go to amyanime4, TheImaginativeFox, 4 Guests, Kessy Rods, and 49478, also MarburyBlur and thorn of roses2205 if you're reading this, thanks to all of you. Seriously, thanks, you guys are amazing :) **

**Disclaimer: Anything that is even remotely recognizable as something that I shouldn't own, I sadly do not own. **

**Set during the first season or a little after.**

* * *

><p>"...heart monitor speeding up!"<p>

"Wally, we know! You told us ten times while dragging us here!"

A dull thump sounded beside Robin "Is he gonna wake up?"

"We cannot know for sure, howev- Wally, please stand up."

**_Fwoosh_**

**_Crackle_**

_"Eek!" _

"Geez, Wally! You know how much M'gann hates fire!"

"This is not my fault!"

**_Splash_ **"Is everyone alright?"

_**Grunt** _"We're gonna need another chair."

Robin giggled at that before finally opening his masked eyes. While eavesdropping on his teammates was fun, calling Wally out was even more so. "Third this month."

It was also fun watching his team spin to look at him, shocked and relived. Even Superboy; Robin was sure he saw some sort of emotion in the clone.

"Robin! You're awake!" M'gann squealed, "Do you need anything? Hello, M'gann! I should've made cookies!"

Robin sniffed the air suspiciously, "Are you sure you didn't?"

"Oh my gosh, my cookies!" the Martian flew out of the room at top speed. The ebony chuckled and was about to stand up and follow her when half the team appeared over him, holding him down.

"Whoa, guys, what's the matter? I'm sure those poor pastries haven't gotten worse since I've been out. Speaking of which, how long have I been out?"

"You have been out for approximately nine hours and we do not think it would be wise for you to get up in your condition." Aqualad commanded, in full out leadership mode.

Robin scoffed, "Nine hours? How much did you guys have to sedate me for that? Did I even need a blood transfusion?"

"Uh, well, you did get a few stitches..." Wally said nervously. He knew the full extent of the injuries his best friend had received in the past _and_ that this was nothing in comparison, but he couldn't help worrying anyway.

Which really didn't help because Robin suddenly judo flipped himself out of their grasp, did an airborne somersault and landed soundlessly on the other side of the room. He even threw them that look, the one he always gave Batman when he was forbidden to go on patrol due to injury (Wally had been there for a few of those disputes which was an experience he definitely didn't want to repeat), the unique blend of "Really?" and "I'm tougher than I look" with a fair helping of mischievous intent. Then he stalked off towards the kitchen, leaving Kaldur, Superboy, Artemis and Wally to stare after him.

Robin, on the other hand, was way less stunned senseless and kind of wishing he was. He had forgotten about that little concussion he'd gotten and in the flip it had started to seem a little less little. He could barely see when he landed, but there was no way he'd let them know that as he sent a glare towards where Wally's head was supposed to be. That kind of made it worse (hey, a batglare isn't effortless, despite what Wally says) but the proud bird walked away anyway. Now he was regretting it. He had to lean on the wall just to make forward progress, and he was _sure_ the lights to the cave weren't this dim. Especially in the hall- ah, made it to the kitchen. He unconsciously straightened and walked forward normally, masking his limp with skills honed by years of bat tutelage.

"Oh! Robin, shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Et tu, M'gann?" Robin shook his head in mock disappointment, secretly amused by her confused expression. Apparently Shakespeare didn't come up all that much in tv sitcoms."What if I want a snack?" he snatched a cookie from the sheet before she could protest and ate it in two bites. Immediately, she brightened, forgetting all about his injuries.

"Do you like it? It's a new recipe!"

"Yeah, best yet." It was true, they weren't as salty as the last batch, "I'm sure Wally would- speak of the devil."

Wally and the rest of the group turned the corner into the kitchen and grabbed a few cookies each. Soon, they were all talking and laughing like usual, though the others kept sneaking worried glances at Robin. Glances he pointedly ignored even as Black Canary called them for training.

"Alright, today we're going to be sparring in partners. Artemis and... Robin, you can start us off."

Robin moved towards the centre circle but Artemis hadn't budged, "Uh, Black Canary... I think... uh... Robin..."

"Think that Robin's what?" Robin snarled. He had only been awake for an hour or so an already his team was driving him crazy. This was _nothing_, couldn't they see that? Ribs were already set and the concussion headache had worn off hours ago. He had jumped off buildings and fought the Joker with far worse (granted, those were caused during the battle not before, but still!). What the first sidekick didn't understand was that the team hadn't had as much experience with injuries as he'd had. Since he'd seen and dealt with worse he believed they had, too. Unfortunately, not everyone spends every night watching Alfred stitch up Batman's latest gouge, or patrols Gotham where someone dies every week if not every night. They hadn't seen someone laugh themselves to death in person or experienced their worst fears in a hallucination. Robin thought that they, like him, simply kept the worst news to themselves. Details of the latest horrid crime weren't exactly dinner topics. Thus, he didn't understand that injuries he classified as minor to moderate they thought of as serious to severe, more than harsh enough to merit bed rest. He thought they were trying to protect him from insignificant injuries _just_ because he was the smallest and youngest. While he was partially right, they also thought that his wounds were enough to waylay anybody. Wally, after all, had skipped out on many a session due to his broken arm. Surely Robin, with a few broken ribs, would like to sit out too.

"We don't think Robin's fit for physical training today." Superboy said, blunt as ever.

"What, 'cause of these?" The ebony yanked his tunic up slightly, revealing a series of bandages across a well-toned torso. "This is _nothing_! " he really thought so, too.

Aqualad stepped forward in an attempt to ease the tension, "Yes, we believe more bed rest would suit you well, my friend."

"Yeah? Well, I don't 'believe more bed rest would suit me well'" he turned to Black Canary, "Can I at least spar with you? You know that sparring relieves stress and that's good for my psychological health..."

Appealing to her theraputic doctor side... again. The trainer smiled knowingly at the teen. He had a bat glare on, which she had to admit he'd gotten better at. She'd seen far to many of those looks to be fooled, but not being fooled didn't mean immune. Additionally, she'd also seen what being confined to a bed did to a boy who'd been flying his entire life. He got bored, then restless, then mischievous and the end results were not pretty. Especially that one time he'd gotten the silicone spray...

"Alright Robin, we'll spar."

"Yes!" The Boy Wonder bounded into the centre ring, taking a defensive stance across from his mentor.

Canary dropped into a simple attack maneuver, a high punch followed by a leg sweep. Robin easily dodged both and rolled under her arm to come up behind her with a push to her lower back, using her own weight against her to floor easily. Or at least, it would've been easy had she not expected that and twisted with a light kick to Robin's thigh. In turn, he dodged and easily leapt onto her outstretched leg, using it as a springboard to do a front flip in midair, land on her shoulders and jump onto the far side of the arena, knocking Black Canary down. He didn't stop there, though, and did a few front flips around the circle before coming to a stop in front of the team in a handstand.

"Robin, I do not believe you should be doing handstands in your condi-"

The Boy Wonder wasn't listening. He'd turned on his hands to face Black Canary accusingly, "You went easy on me!"

She smirked, "You said we had to spar. You didn't specify the difficulty, or anything for that matter."

Robin huffed and, despite his team's protests, cartwheeled out of the training room.

"Where's he going?" Artemis wondered. Wally shrugged and M'gann stared worriedly down the hallway.

"Should we follow him?"

"Let's finish training first, he's probably resting," Black Canary said. They had to finish training, especially after yesterday's brick wall fiasco. Even though she knew that Robin was currently doing anything but resting, they could check on him later.

Meanwhile, Robin had quit cartwheeling in favour of limping towards the kitchen with only one thought in mind. He had to prove to Black Canary and the team that he was strong enough to go on as normal. The physical activity had taken more out of him than he wanted to admit. He had to-

Robin tripped and abruptly crashed to the ground, rolling to silence the impact while mouthing a bunch of expletives. He _never _tripped. For the briefest moment, he thought of doing something like lying down and taking a nap.

_No. Batman doesn't takes naps. You're not taking a nap. You need to prove yourself. _

It was more than proving it to his team now. He'd noticed all those looks they'd been giving him and tripping was proving them horribly right. He was weak. They'd all gone through the same thing, so why was he so damaged when they were perfectly fine? It wasn't fair! If he'd been standing and, y'know, not in a lot more pain than he should be, he probably would've punched another wall. Why did he always have to be the one who got hurt the most, just because he was human and smaller than the others? He had the most experience, learned all sorts of languages, codes, martial arts, hacking skills, medical train- and was now starting to sound like Superboy. Great, now he had ego problems.

_Like you didn't already. _

Robin sighed and dragged himself up the wall, staggering the last few feet to the kitchen where he grabbed an ice pack and held it against his throbbing ribs. Indolently, he gazed around the kitchen, taking in burnt cookie remains on the table then all the clean cooking equipment (even if M'gann wasn't the best cook she always cleaned up after herself). A slow smirk grew on his features.

He still had to prove himself, after all.

* * *

><p>Training had gone well until delicious smells decided to rudely waft through the vents. To make matters worse, they'd been in a very important lesson about covertness at the time, a topic Black Canary knew the team could greatly benefit from considering almost all their missions. They couldn't just drop everything to go see exactly what smelled like beautiful buttered bread with melted sugar and who knew what else. She just barely managed to keep an excitedly vibrating Wally from running off, and the rest of the class was zoning out anyway. Finally, when even Canary was salivating and Wally had set his fourth chair on fire (really, they <em>had <em>to break him out of that excited/nervous/bored/just-cause-he-felt-like-it habit), did she let them go. Predictably, they all sped straight to the kitchen.

"I was wondering when you guys'd get here." Robin smirked behind his rack of cookies. If you could call perfection such as that something as benign as "cookie". On the pristine sheet lay dozens of toasty browned swirls of fluffy, buttery dough. To top it off, a light sprinkling of powdered sugar and a crisp walnut. You could smell the distinct tang of lemon zest and nutmeg amongst the warm, home baked softness.

It left the entire team blissfully stunned.

Robin picked a cookie "Well? What are you waiting for?" he took a bite.

Wally whooped and dived towards the sheet, leaving the rest of the team to laugh and follow. Soon, just as they had in the morning, the team was laughing and talking around a cookie sheet.

"Robin, we never knew you could bake on this caliber, it is a wonderful surprise."

"Thanks Kaldur, it's really not that big of a deal."

"Robin, these are amazing! Can you teach me the recipe?"

"Sure, M'gann, no problem." Robin laughed, though he couldn't keep the slightest hint of sadness out of his voice. Thankfully, M'gann was too caught up to notice. No way was he going to tell her it was his mom's recipe, the cookies she'd always made for the holidays. Mary Grayson would stockpile ingredients for months in their tiny trailer just so she could make a few extra batches when Christmas rolled around. However good these were, they would only ever be pale imitations of hers. Originally, Robin was making cookies because it was one of the many ideas he hadn't tried yet to get Batman to let him out on patrol when he'd gotten hurt, much like the situation he was in now. Early on, he'd learned that had he made anything for Bruce they'd fall way short of Alfred's cooking skills, so he'd jumped at the chance to show off for his team. How the sugar cookies he'd planned on turned into something so sentimental he had no idea, but he didn't mind. They were still really good cookies.

* * *

><p>Afternoon came and went in a blur of cookies and teammates. After many games of ping pong, Dutch Blitz and one ill-fated game of Uno, evening was gone too. With Bruce having been forced to a business meeting far from Gotham and Mount Justice, his partner had been predetermined to stay at the cave for the night even before he got hurt. Artemis, Wally and Aqualad were staying too, their families had heard of Robin staying and decided it would be a good team-building experience for everyone to stay over. The team seemed to have forgotten all about the brick wall incident, for which Robin was grateful, especially since his ribs had stubbornly refused to let Robin himself do so. He was also very determined to keep up with his teammates, even after a violent pillow fight and a very intense game of truth or dare. Cooking ten sheets of cookies to compensate for Wally's appetite hadn't helped matters; he was exhausted, barely staying conscious for their movie marathon. His ribs felt horrible again, and he wouldn't have been surprised if he'd pulled a few stitches during the pillow fight.<p>

"Hey Rob, pass the remote." Wally asked, staring at the tv. Robin looked at the remote. The remote glared back challengingly, a few steps away.

_Just a few steps, c'mon Grayson. Don't give out now!_

Robin got up, walked to the remote, bent to pick it up and promptly collapsed.

"Remote? C'mon Rob... Rob?" Wally finally glanced over at his friend, voice rising in alarm. It was enough to break M'gann and Conner out of their flirting session, Kaldur out of the sleep he hoped nobody had saw and Artemis out of her brooding. For the second time in 48 hours, Wally dashed to his fallen friends side.

"What did you do this time, Baywatch?"

"Nothing, he just collapsed! Robin, buddy, answer me!"

The injured bird moaned in response, fluttering back to consciousness. His head felt like a bag of muddy water full of rocks, which meant he was hurt. Badly. Again.

_Oops. _

"Yeah, m'fine KF..." he muttered.

Artemis snorted, "Yeah, cause people totally just collapse when they try to pick up a remote."

"Hello M'gann! His injuries! We completely forgot!" M'gann gasped.

Aqualad knelt next to Kid Flash to support Robin's head as they gently lifted him onto the couch the team was crowding around.

"Robin, why didn't you say anything?" Aqualad said. He felt extremely guilty for forgetting the condition of his teammate and friend.

"I... ugh... didn't want you guys to t-think I was weak..." Robin slurred, "Needed to p-prove myself... not weak... not a lia-liability..."

"We would never think of you as such, you know that, right?"

"You guys were treating me like... nngh... I couldn't h-handle myself... s'not fair, I get so hurt when you don't have a scratch... then you act like I'm about to d-die..."

"Why did you push yourself to such lengths? The cartwheeling, the cookies, staying alert all evening?"

"Heh... 't worked, didn't it?"

Aqualad sighed in resignation, glancing up towards his teammates worriedly annoyed faces. Below him, their stubborn little Boy Wonder's eyes were glazed even though his features were slightly amused.

"Robin, you are more than worthy to be a member in this team. Even though we might be protective sometimes, it's because we cannot afford to lose you."

Wally interjected, "See, Rob? You're my best friend, dude. We just wanted to make sure you healed 'cause your injuries were really severe."

The team nodded in earnest, though they all looked a little guilty, especially Superboy. They never knew he'd go to such lengths to avert their expectations.

"Promise you will never do this again." Kaldur said.

Robin chuckled, "If you promise... never to... b-baby me again..."

"We promise." Aqualad responded after briefly checking with his teammates

Robin smiled as his eyes finally slid closed, mumbling, "Y-y'know... maybe bed rest w-wouldn't be such a... such a b-bad idea after all."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yay! Two shot, complete. Thanks for reading! I hope it lived up to expectations *crosses fingers*. I thought it would be interesting to see a way the Robin didn't understand his team since I see <strong>**tons of fics about how the team doesn't understand him. Also, if you want to know, the cookies are Romanian Holiday Cookies. I've never had them, but there's a nice recipe online. I know it's a tad too fluffy at the end but... oh well. Reviews would be very nice if it isn't too inconvenient, please. **

**Anyways, pretty sure that's all for now. Have a good week! **

**Thank you,**

**-Nightwriter222**


End file.
